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Ron Artest coming to the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Cavaliers have a lot of options in free agency, but one of their first calls was somewhat surprising.

According to several league sources, the Cavs have been in contact with
Houston Rockets free agent forward Ron Artest. It even included a
face-to-face pitch from LeBron James Tuesday night in Los Angeles as
both were in Southern California for various events.

Artest, who is an unrestricted free agent after a contract that paid
him $7.4 million with the Rockets expired, is being courted by several
teams. Artest is believed to prefer to play for a championship
contender. In addition to the Rockets, the Cavs may be getting
competition from the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers for his
services.

With the Rockets facing the uncertain injury status of stars Yao Ming
and Tracy McGrady, it is unclear how hard they will try to push to
re-sign Artest. They are pursuing Orlando Magic free agent center
Marcin Gortat.

The Rockets have shown interest in Cavs free agent Anderson Varejao in
the past, which opens up some possibilities of a sign-and-trade
scenario. However, the Cavaliers have said they want to re-sign Varejao.

Artest, 29, played for Mike Brown when the Cavs coach was the associate
head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 2003-05. He is the type of
forward the Cavs would be interested in as he has the ability to
stretch the floor with range out to the 3-point line.